The Kraft companies in charge of parking and security at Gillette stadium have a duty to reasonable care of the patrons on their premises, including when the patrons are engaged in risky and illegal activity that contributes to injury or death.

That was the ruling of Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady in the deaths of Debra Davis, 20, and Alexa Latteo, 19. The women were ordered off the Gillette stadium property five hours after they had been drinking heavily in the parking lot outside the Country Music Festival in 2008.

The ruling from Brady means that a jury will have a chance to decide if the Kraft companies are legally responsible in the deaths and injuries of the women.

An attorney for the defendants had argued that Davis, Latteo, and a third person, Nina Houlihan, 20, were engaged in criminal activity and trespassing because they did not have tickets for the festival. Signs are posted at Gillette stadium that only patrons with tickets are allowed in the parking lots, the attorneys argued.

After the concert was under way, the three women left the parking lot, got into Latteo's car and crashed into a tree. Only Houlihan survived.

Brady ruled it was entirely foreseeable that teenagers with no intentions of entering the concert would engage in excessive drinking on the premises. He added that Gillette security did not adequately check patrons in the parking lot for tickets or adequately patrol the lot for underage and excessive drinking.